2022-23 Cavs Grades: Cedi Osman has ups and downs, but not all on him

Osman’s 2022-23 defense

Osman is not going to be in games for being a defensive ace, such as is the case with Isaac Okoro, for example. Osman is going to be limited in some matchups on the perimeter, given lateral quickness limitations, and he gets caught trying to navigating ball screens in some sequences.

However, to Osman’s credit, he has been more competent with his off-ball play defensively this season, which has carried forward, to some degree, from last season. Then, he appeared to have turned a corner in that realm, and this season, he’s shown growth with his instincts as a helper.

While it’s not led to a bunch of deflections, his activity and timing when digging into gaps on drivers has helped the Cavaliers in stretches, and he’s at least done a better job of running shooters off the three-point line.

In addition, what seemingly goes unnoticed with Osman is how he is a solid defensive rebounder, from a positioning, timing and activity perspective. The splits of 2.3 rebounds per game weren’t a gaudy number, but his defensive rebounding rate of 11.4 percent was decent, in his role.

Objectively, though, Osman is still going to get beat and takes some bad fouls on shooters, and that’s feasibly played into his minutes-share variance, and in the playoffs, it’s an area of concern, along with his shot being streaky.

Osman’s 2022-23 defensive grade: B-

Osman’s overall play

Osman’s struggles at various points are not rough patches he should be completely absolved of, and over his tenure with the Cavs, he’s been a shooter that runs hot and cold for stretches of games.

Despite that, his finishing this season has been improved, as has his off-ball defense, and when he’s had consistent opportunities, he’s aided the club on plenty of occasions.

Furthermore, Osman being fourth in the NBA this season in total plus-minus among bench players, per NBA.com, is nothing to sneeze at. It also makes me wonder what could have been if he had been in J.B. Bickerstaff’s doghouse less, if he could have been able to have a far better rhythm for extended periods. With others involved, it had to have played into some of the variance, in fairness.

Either way, Osman has long been a player mentioned in recent seasons as a potential trade candidate, albeit to no point actually being moved. But, with his deal for next season non-guaranteed, it’s tough to forecast whether or not he’ll be back. He has been a great locker room presence, and has given this team energy a bunch in his time in Cleveland, on the plus side.

If it were up to me, I’d prefer to have the team and Cedi find a way to keep him around, as a glue guy/bench shooter-type. It’s not no simple with the soon-to-be-28-year-old, though.

Osman’s 2022-23 overall grade: B